We had a slow start to this week (if you missed our Week 7 Recap), but I did spend a bit of time cleaning and reorganising everything in the annex. It's amazing how quickly things get messed up and how easy it is to just leave it when you're so busy trying to see everything. It felt really good to have everything tided again. Before we left something that Mrs Meddler recommended was a stick vacuum that uses the same battery as all of Jamie's tools. This has been one of the best things we've bought. It picks up the fine sand and keeps everything neat. Jamie loves to vacuum, and has been doing a fair bit of cleaning. Once things were moved and packed away I could give it a good vacuum, even Little Miss's play blanket.
Every time we walk past a dog Little miss wants to pat it, I allow extra time on a walk when I know that there will be dogs to pat. Little miss has found a loophole, if I say no but the dog walker says yes then she can pat the dog. We had a look in the op shops and found a few new books for Little miss. She loves books and I don't feel guilty buy a book for 50 cents, that she can later put in a book exchange. She has some new favourite books.
We visited the Peach Farm, I hadn't heard of it but saw the sign on the highway as we drove past. It was definitely a winner in our books and I would visit again.
After missing the markets in YAMBA last week, we made sure to be there before they closed this time. We wandered the markets, but because it was a few days before moving on we didn't buy anything. We had a little play at whiting beach and little miss had a lovely time scooping up buckets full of water and making wet sand to make sandcastles. We had a picnic on the beach, can be a bit sandy with a little one. With iffy weather coming our way we headed back (I'd left the windows open in the annex), luckily it didn't rain.
Little miss made a friend with another family travelling full time (it's nice meeting other families on the road), and had a lovely time this week playing with her new friend, she even wrote him a card to say goodbye.
We did start packing up the day before we left, the entire annex was packed away with only really our chairs left out. While packing down there were two small frogs, one tucked under the annex. I may or may not have screamed really loudly thinking it was some massive spider. Little miss wanted to catch it and keep it (of course), but frogs got shooed away quickly. Packing down the day before made leaving the next day at lot less stressful. We also had takeaway for dinner to as a treat and to save on cooking. When we get takeaway we try to buy things we can't make, so pizza was an easy choice.
We travelled the very long 36 km up the road to the big 4 Ballina headlands. It was supposed to take 45 minutes but the new bypass opened up so it took half an hour. We did have a little issue with the electric brakes but it was sorted quickly. We arrived with plenty of time to set up, and each time we set up and pack down it makes it easier. We each have different jobs to do and we seem to be getting into a routine when setting up. This caravan park has a pool, so we got to test it out.
With each move we run our groceries down to give us a chance to eat the food we have and not chuck it out but to also clean the fridge out. So the day after moving day means grocery shopping is top of the list. Staying in the one place for a few weeks gave us the opportunity to buy a bit more to mean we can do smaller top up shops for the rest of our time here.
We've found that most caravan parks are quiet during the weeks and mainly over the weekends get a bit busier. It does often mean that Little miss has the playground to herself. We spent many hours playing on the playground, drawing on the chalkboard and jumping on the jumping pillow.
Lessons we learned:
- Little miss loves to pat everyone's dogs
- Even if I say no, if the dog owner says yes then all bets are off
- This kid has figured out loopholes
- The annex gets untidy and needs reorganising
- A great vacuum is important
- Op shops have some great kids books
- Books are the best
- There's no such thing as too many books
- Picnics are delicious
- Picnics can save $$$
- Beach picnics are great, but can be a little sandy
- Check the weather before leaving your campsite
- Little miss is super sweet and loves making cards
- Packing the annex the day before is easier
- Frogs will startle me when packing down
- Little miss will try to catch everything
- Pizza is delicious
- Each time we set up it gets easier
- Grocery shopping is boring
- Jumping pillows are great fun
Places we visited:
- Op Shops
- The Peach Farm
- Yamba
- Skennars Head
If you enjoyed reading about our adventures you can read more Week 9 Recap
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